Podcasts in Review

December 14, 2017 at 12:01 am | Posted in Podcasts, Podcasts in Review, Regular Feature, Reviews, Star Wars | Leave a comment

Here is this week’s Podcasts in Review.

Blast Points Podcast: Episode 102 dives into the Star Wars album Christmas in the Stars. They talk about how it came about, then they do a full commentary for every track on the album as they listen to the whole thing from beginning to end. Good episode with some fun discussion. Perhaps the most enjoyable way to listen to the entire album.

Podcast Network: N/A, Runtime: 50 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Hosts: Jason and Gabe, Rating: Good

Blast Points Podcast: Episode 103 is their The Last Jedi pre-show as they deal with the excitement and prepare to have their minds blown by all the craziness that’s sure to ensue. To kill the time, they briefly recap how we got to The Last Jedi, and they go over the red carpet premier event and play some of the audio from the stars. Still pretty safe for those avoiding all spoilers.

Podcast Network: N/A, Runtime: 53 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Hosts: Jason and Gabe, Rating: Fun

Brews and Blasters: Episode 147 they prep for The Last Jedi with pub cheese. They have some fun with Snoke’s school photo, they talk about a Mark Hamill article, Rian Johnson’s latest comments on his new trilogy, they go on a tangent with The Room and The Disaster Artist, then they get back to Star Wars with Topps, pasta, Forcebacks, and they speculate on Leia’s fate, Snoke’s ultimate goal, Kylo Ren redemption, and then listener emails and need’em got’em. Fun episode.

Podcast Network: Retrozap, Runtime: 2 hours 20 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Hosts: Joe and Chris, Rating: Fun

Coffee With Kenobi: Episode 100 Dan talks about The Last Jedi viewing plans, guests Adam Bray and Aaron Harris join him as they talk about Adam’s new book Stormtroopers: Beyond the Armor. Guest Zach Sharpe drops in to talk Star Wars pinball. Then Tom covers the news, Dan covers chapters 33 through 44 for Phasma, and there’s listener feedback on Star Wars Battlefront II.

Podcast Network: Coffee With Kenobi, Runtime: 1 hour 15 minutes, Audio Quality: Great, Editing: Excellent, Hosts: Dan Z with guest hosts Adam Bray and Aaron Harris, Rating: Good

DorkLair: Episode 17 starts with news and listener feedback on the other things people collect. They also go over Christmas wish list items. Then they review the S.H. Figuarts Tank Commander.

Podcast Network: Retrozap, Runtime: 58 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Hosts: Bill and Brian, Rating: Good

Fantastic Justice Squad Super Wonder Brother Friends: Episode 18 features guest Garrick as they kick things off with the creepiest The Twilight Zone episodes. Then they discuss season one of Stranger Things. They start with a non-spoiler discussion of strengths and weaknesses, then they get into spoilers. Plus there’s the ask your brother things he doesn’t know game. Great episode.

Podcast Network: N/A, Runtime: 49 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Hosts: Sancho Panda, Secret Alias Man and Garrick, Rating: Great

Fantastic Justice Squad Super Wonder Brother Friends: Episode 21 is an older episode as they haven’t put anything new out in a while, but there’s still some episodes in the back catalog that I’ve been catching up on. In this one they start with some pre-amble discussion on singing happy birthday to Stan Lee, then they get to their main discussion, the movie Arrival. I recently watched Arrival, which is why I went and picked this episode out. As always, they start with a non-spoiler discussion and cover the movies strengths and weaknesses. They take a break to play a game which this time around is countering the negative critic reviews. Then they come back to do their spoiler discussion. They both really enjoyed this one, so it’s a positive discussion, and Secret Alias Man delves deep into the science and sociological aspects of the film. Excellent episode with some intriguing observations.

Podcast Network: N/A, Runtime: 1 hour 6 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Hosts: Sancho Panda and Secret Alias Man, Rating: Excellent

Fly Casual: Episode 164 has reviews for Star Wars #39, Poe Dameron #21, Mace Windu #4 and Star Wars Adventures #4. It also marks a return of limericks. Afterwards they discuss Star Wars Rebels “Crawler Commandeers” and “Rebel Assault”, then they head into rumors, which is where I dropped out. Up until then, good episode.

Podcast Network: Betterkind Media, Runtime: 1 hour 44 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Hosts: Corey, Steve, Garrick and Mike, Rating: Good

Full of Sith: Episode CCXLIV discusses the updates to Star Tours as Holly does a full breakdown of all the new stuff, so if you’re trying to preserve the surprise, you’ll want to skip this one. They also talk about what they would like to see in forthcoming Star Tours updates. Plus they talk Star Wars Battlefront II, tv spots, porgs and The Last Jedi excitement.

Podcast Network: N/A, Runtime: 1 hour 5 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Hosts: Holly, Bryan and Mike, Rating: Good

Full of Sith: Episode CCXLIII Bryan and Holly talk with guest Tom Spina about Tom Spina Designs, Regal Robot, the cantina panels and his fascination for the cantina. He covers the restoration side of things with the alien masks, the Kylo Ren SNL skit, and lots of other various projects and stories. Great episode and a very fun discussion.

Podcast Network: N/A, Runtime: 1 hour 20 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Hosts: Holly and Bryan, Rating: Good

Geek Out Loud: Episode 232 features guest Adam Bray as they start off talking about collecting which is a fun discussion. They talk about how the Poe Dameron figures don’t look like Poe, the return of the vintage collection, Force Link, Topps cards, and then they change things up to speculate a little on The Last Jedi. They talk about their favorite movie of the year, the Star Wars prequels, Justice League, and they get into a DC discussion. Fun episode. Definitely worth checking out.

Podcast Network: Geek Out Loud, Runtime: 1 hour 32 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Host: Steve Glosson, Rating: Fun

Hyperspace PodBlast: Episode 42 features guest Tony Russo as they talk about Star Wars, writing, and fan fiction. Having done both official work in Star Wars with West End Games and short stories, as well as fan fiction, Tony talk about the two, working with and without restrictions, and the motivation for fan fic. Fun conversation.

Podcast Network: N/A, Runtime: 30 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Hosts: Bryan and Shelby, Rating: Good

Jedi Journals: December 2017 covers recent releases and acquisitions, they go over Phasma and get into spoilers as they recap the story, then they talk a little about The Rebel Files, the new vinyl release for the A New Hope soundtrack and other literature news and content.

Podcast Network: TheForce.net, Runtime: 1 hour 23 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Hosts: Jay and Chris, Rating: Good

Magic on a Dollar: Episode 10 starts with news. Dave talks about the Olaff Frozen short being pulled from the beginning of Coco, some movie info, update on the Fox/Disney deal, this week in Disney history, and then some Christmas gift ideas starting off with the ridiculously expensive which was very funny. Afterwards Dave gets to some more affordable items. Great episode. If you’re a Disney fan, be sure to check this podcast out.

Podcast Network: N/A, Runtime: 38 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Host: Dave, Rating: Great

Skytalkers: Star Wars in the Classroom kicks off with guests Michael and Hannah as they talk about the Star Wars theology class they teach. They touch on viewing order, characters, EU/Legends and more. Afterwards, Caitlin and Charlotte discuss what Star Wars essays they would write about which brings up some interesting topics. Then they discuss their dream Star Wars classes. Lots of interesting ideas.

Podcast Network: Star Wars Escape Pods Network, Runtime: 1 hour 35 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Hosts: Caitlin and Charlotte, Rating: Good

Star Wars 7×7: Episode 1253 marks the beginning of “Safe Week” on Star Wars 7×7 where each episode is spoiler free for The Last Jedi. As someone who has already gone into hiding in terms of spoilers, I really appreciate this. This episode is the first of several which recaps what has happened in the Poe Dameron Marvel comic series, thus helping to bring fans up to date with what Poe has been up to, though the series is set before The Force Awakens.

Podcast Network: N/A, Runtime: 13 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Host: Allen, Rating: Good

Star Wars 7×7: Episode 1254 continues the coverage of the Poe Dameron comic series recapping the Grakkus the Hutt prison arc.

Podcast Network: N/A, Runtime: 11 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Host: Allen, Rating: Good

Star Wars 7×7: Episode 1255 continues the coverage of the Poe Dameron comic series with C-3PO’s stint as spymaster, the dive into Terrex’s backstory, and the reveal of the mole in Black Squadron. FYI these episodes do get into spoilers for the comics.

Podcast Network: N/A, Runtime: 14 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Host: Allen, Rating: Good

Star Wars 7×7: Episode 1256 continues the coverage of the Poe Dameron comic series with the funeral for one of the members of Black Squadron, Leia grounding Poe, and the adventure with the booby trapped tanker.

Podcast Network: N/A, Runtime: 12 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Host: Allen, Rating: Good

Star Wars 7×7: Episode 1257 continues the coverage of the Poe Dameron comics with the journalist arc.

Podcast Network: N/A, Runtime: 11 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Host: Allen, Rating: Good

Star Wars 7×7: Episode 1258 switches gears to begin coverage of the single player campaign story in Star Wars Battlefront II. If you haven’t played the game, this does go into spoilers.

Podcast Network: N/A, Runtime: 12 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Host: Allen, Rating: Good

Superhero Therapy: Star Wars and Psychology features guest Phillip Anthony-Rodriguez (the voice of the Fifth Brother in Star Wars Rebels) as they talk about the psychology of Star Wars. They get into the aspect of standing up to bullies, standing up for justice, right vs wrong, one person making a difference, the differences in views and ideals, extremism, and they talk some about what we might see with Kylo and Rey. Phillip talks about playing the Fifth Brother on Star Wars Rebels, and the fun aspect of playing a bad guy. They also delve into the psychology of Thrawn, Kallus and Finn. Fun discussion diving into a lot of different themes in Star Wars. There were a few minor audio issues with Phillip’s line, but otherwise great episode.

Podcast Network: Assembly of Geeks, Runtime: 56 minutes, Audio Quality: Good, Editing: Great, Hosts: Dr. Scarlet and Dustin, Rating: Great

Talk Star Wars: Episode 98 discusses a new lightsaber hue being in The Last Jedi, Steve’s The Force Awakens rewatch, wild rumors they hope are right, whether the Falcon could be killed, The Last Jedi speculation on Rey and Luke, their use of the Force, and temptation. They talk a little about Netflix, Marvel’s track record and whether Star Wars could do that on the Disney streaming service. They talk about Rian Johnson’s comments on the new trilogy, and then they get to their spoiler section which is where I dropped out. Great episode up until then.

Podcast Network: Star Wars Commonwealth, Runtime: 2 hour 16 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Hosts: Marc, Paul, Steven and Rob, Rating: Great

Tarkin’s Top Shelf: Episode 26 covers the Empire magazine covers, The Rolling Stone Star Wars issue, and then they focus in on the idea of the brightest light casting the darkest shadow, a theme mentioned in Matthew Stover’s novelization of Revenge of the Sith and brought up again in Chuck Wendig’s Aftermath series. They compare Anakin and Luke, they discuss where Leia’s loyalties lie, they touch on Adam Driver and Mark Hamill’s comments on the characters, they compare how Leia and her son were raised, and they talk about what went wrong with Kylo.

Podcast Network: MakingStarWars.net, Runtime: 56 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Host: Becca and Ryder, Rating: Good

TechnoRetro Dads: Getting Ready For Jedi Nights covers their plans for The Last Jedi, Star Wars jokes, their thoughts on spoilers, and then they get into Super Mario cereal. Things bounce back to Star Wars as they talk C-3PO’s cereal, the Star Wars vector graphics game, and then they get into some fun speculation on The Last Jedi. If you’re avoiding spoilers, this is pretty safe, so no need to skip it. They also talk Star Wars toys, remembering back to the empty box in 1977 and what toys they’d like now that you can’t get.

Podcast Network: Retrozap, Runtime: 1 hour 18 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Hosts: Shazbazzar and JediShua, Rating: Fun

The Deucecast Movie Show: Episode 306 is their recommendations for movies and documentaries across the various streaming platforms broken down by genre. From action to chick flicks, they cover the gamut. So if you’re looking for movie ideas, this is a good one to check out.

Podcast Network: Retrozap, Runtime: 1 hour 1 minute, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Hosts: Dave, Mikey, Pinky and Dr. Earl, Rating: Good

The Deucecast Movie Show: Episode 307 they go over all the movies they’ve recently seen including Fist Fight, Coco, Caffeine, Murder on the Orient Express, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing MO, Jim and Andy, Unforgettable, Landline, The Big Sick, Lady Bird, Split, The Room, The Disaster Artist, Beauty and the Beast, Bachelor Party, The Great Wall and more. Good episode if you’re looking for movie recommendations.

Podcast Network: Retrozap, Runtime: 1 hour 6 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Hosts: Dave, Mikey and Dr. Earl, Rating: Good

The Geek Supreme: Rey, Rey Going Away? they go over the new Infinity War trailer, Chris Pratt impersonator and celebrities on social media, first word in The Last Jedi but what would the sentence be, Star Wars Battlefront II and loot crates, Rotten Tomatoes score predictions and more.

Podcast Network: Assembly of Geeks, Runtime: 52 minutes, Audio Quality: Great, Editing: Excellent, Hosts: Darth Taxus, Scott, Jeff and Regina, Rating: Great

The Resistance Broadcast: Episode 94 features guest Anthony Breznican as they talk BB-9E, interacting with the actors, handling spoilers, and Marvel stories. They also talk about the recent Rolling Stone article and other various news items. Always fun to hear from Anthony.

Podcast Network: N/A, Runtime: 1 hour 21 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Hosts: John, James and Bill, Rating: Good

The Sandcrawler: Episode 40 they talk The Last Jedi magazines, Star Wars cereal spoons, Christmas music, listener feedback, recent acquisitions, they talk about figure updates and making better versions, they talk about the Bistan 2-figure pack and they compare The Last Jedi two-packs versus the Rogue One two-packs. They also talk about 40th anniversary set, ANOVOS woes, and porg on board. Another great episode of Star Wars collecting fun.

Podcast Network: Retrozap, Runtime: 1 hour 38 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Hosts: Dan and Mac, Rating: Good